Air India inducts 4th Boeing 777-200LR in its fleet

Mumbai, Jan 3: Air India today said it has received the fourth Boeing 777-200LR (Long Range), a part of the 68 aircraft ordered by the national carrier in December 2005.

The new technologically advanced aircraft will be used by the national carrier for its proposed daily non-stop Delhi to New York flight from February 8. A total of eight Boeing 777-200LRs have been ordered by Air India. The aircraft arrived in Delhi from Boeing headquarters in Seattle yesterday, an Air India statement said.

The fifth aircraft is expected to join the fleet by next month, while the remaining three B777-200LRs are scheduled for delivery in mid-2009.

The new aircraft has been christened as ''Gujarat''. As part of its policy, the national carrier has been naming B777-200LRs after the name of various Indian states. The other three B777-200LRs, which have been inducted in the airline, have been named as Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.

The 238-seater aircraft has been configured with eight seats in first class, 35 in executive class and 195 seats in economy class.

With the arrival of the fourth aircraft, Air India has received 17 Boeing aircraft so far, which include four B777-200LRs, three Boeing 777-300ERs and ten B737-800s for its budget carrier, Air India Express.